Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph called out his teammates after an ugly 105-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night. The veteran leader said the team was "soft" in allowing Detroit, which had entered with 10 straight losses, to rally from a 17-point deficit in the second half to earn a double digit victory.
Zach Randolph calls struggling Grizzlies ‘soft’ after another loss
The Grizzlies’ star forward wasn’t happy after letting the Pistons snap a 10-game losing streak Tuesday night.
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“We’ve got to get tough,” Randolph told the Memphis Commercial Appeal after the game (via Pro Basketball Talk). “It’s not just one thing. It’s a lot. We were soft, and we didn’t stick to what we were doing. It’s a disappointing loss, especially with what we’re talking about doing. We’ve got to do something to fix this.”
The Grizzlies have gone 8-7 since the All-Star break, maintaining a tenuous hold on the second seed in the Western Conference. The Golden State Warriors have pulled away with the No. 1 seed, leading by seven games entering Wednesday, and now the goal for Memphis is simply to keep homecourt advantage.
The Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets trail the Grizzlies by just 1.5 games in the standings, while the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs are also within five games. Given how much better Memphis has been at home (26-7) than on the road (21-14), one imagines the team has made it a high priority to get one of those top-four seeds.
That, combined with Detroit’s recent struggles, would seem to go a long way toward explaining Randolph’s frustration. Before going off on the team’s lack of resilience, he reportedly mentioned the Pistons’ losing streak multiple times.
Randolph also didn’t play well in the game, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds in 35 minutes. Still, his frustration clearly comes from the team’s situation, which hasn’t exactly looked bright over the past few weeks. The Grizzlies may be the current No. 2 seed in the West, but they need to start playing like it soon.
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